The Sudden Clash of Flames
“Okay, that’s enough.”
The sixth Danju, Feygal, grabbed Teraden’s arm and gave him a gentle smile.
“No killing allowed in the Danju Selection. If even one person dies, they’re immediately disqualified. If I judge it deliberate, the murder charge comes on top.”
“It’s you again?”
Teraden’s half-closed eyes narrowed as he clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“No, a Danju shouldn’t be stepping in personally during the test like this, right? And I wasn’t planning to kill anyone anyway.”
“Even if you didn’t mean to kill, it looked like you were aiming to leave him at least half a cripple, didn’t it?”
“…”
“Fine. If that’s how it is, drop it.”
To keep Teraden’s rising momentum in check, I decided to smooth things over first.
“During combat, emotions can run high enough to trigger that kind of thing naturally. He wasn’t injured or anything—just a little hair grabbed. But right now, we need to hurry and link up with Maru.”
I spread my arms wide to him, letting him know everything was fine.
“Tsk.”
After I pulled his arm away, Teraden rubbed his wrist and clicked his tongue again.
“C, uuk…!”
Meanwhile, the one who had taken the surprise attack from Teraden behind him relaxed the moment Feygal appeared and simply collapsed to his knees.
“Whoa, participant, are you all right? You’ve got a pretty big hole in your side there.”
Squatting beside the groaning man, Feygal gave him a quick first-aid treatment and let out a low whistle of admiration.
“I was thinking I should step in if things got dangerous, but the two of you finished them off completely. Cr, excellent. It’s not over yet, so focus on the test again.”
“Then may we continue the test?”
“Hm? Ah, sure. Go ahead. I’m handling the cleanup here anyway, so you don’t need to help.”
“Yes, thank you. We’ll be going.”
“Even the relatively weaker ones among the three got wiped out without a fight.”
As we left, Feygal grumbled to himself while tending to the fallen around him.
“…”
But in that muttered speech, two things stood out that couldn’t be ignored.
The first was the mention of “three relatively weak ones.”
“Wait. Could you repeat what you just said?”
“Huh? What?”
“You mentioned three relatively weak ones just now…”
Just as I was about to ask Feygal for more details, a truly earth-shaking explosion rang out from behind.
I whirled around in shock, and the first thing that caught my eye was a towering blue flame pillar soaring toward the sky from what looked like the edge of the normal world.
“Cheongnyeom? That must be Hyeondo’s Ineung…”
The blue flame pillar and Feygal’s earlier words together triggered a wave of inexplicable unease that crawled across my entire body, sending chills down my spine.
“Hey! Wait—let’s go together!”
Teraden’s urgent shout quickly faded into the distance.
* * *
Time had passed a little, and the blue flame pillar had not yet erupted.
“Mountains upon mountains.”
Hyeondo, his face set in stone, extended his arm and stopped in front of Maru.
“How many alliances have we actually made?”
Blanser, Junior, and the rest—about twenty people who had followed behind Haru and Teraden—blocked the path ahead of Hyeondo and Maru once more.
Gritting his teeth, Hyeondo tore his gaze away from the unexpected visitors and whispered shortly to Maru.
“Go first.”
But Maru didn’t even turn to leave. Instead, she loosened the hammer strapped to her back and gripped it tightly, stepping forward herself.
“I can’t do that. I’ll fight with you too.”
“You made a pact with them. They swore they wouldn’t let even a hair on your head be harmed. If you break that pact, what would I be?”
“Still, I can’t just stay still.”
“Who did you copy your stubbornness from… Ah, his younger sister. Indeed, siblings can’t be all that different.”
Watching Maru shake her head vigorously, Hyeondo frowned slightly.
While Hyeondo and Maru argued and refused to back down, one of the people blocking their path stepped forward and joined their conversation.
“Excuse me, but we don’t plan to let either of you pass. Seeing you two come alone, the rest clearly did exactly as planned. If we just drop you two here, all of you will be eliminated.”
Hyeondo’s eyes widened in shock, revealing a rare display of hesitation.
“You… aren’t you…?”
“You know me?”
“…”
Maru tilted her head in confusion and asked, but Hyeondo didn’t answer her question.
No, it was more accurate to say he couldn’t answer.
At that moment, Hyeondo’s focus was entirely on the one who had revealed his face in the darkness, so he couldn’t bring himself to respond.
To the others, they seemed like people with secrets only they shared.
“Long time no see. Huh? Almost three years, right? The first time I’ve seen you since the Welcome Night.”
“Arent… Why are you here?”
“The one who hasn’t seen an old senior in a while doesn’t hold back with his words? A senior like the sky telling me to drop that rude habit of yours.”
“Skip the pleasantries. Tell me how you ended up here. What right do you have…?”
“Ah, getting a recommendation letter to apply for the Danju Selection isn’t hard at all.”
“How exactly did you pass the first gate? Who allowed someone like you…?”
From the moment Hyeondo faced Arent, his expression began to sour.
“As expected, the Danju Selection is the Danju Selection. It nearly caused me to fall at the first gate because I was up against a strange person. Wasn’t the name Feygal?”
But while Hyeondo was tense, Arent continued to wear an air of complete ease.
“Speaking of which, seeing you after so long makes me remember the old days at Gukhak. Jo-go and Go-jo. How are those twins doing? It used to be so annoying when they kept challenging me every day, thinking they could beat me. Who knew that day would come.”
“Who…? That guy?”
Maru asked again about the man’s identity.
Hyeondo finally snapped back to his senses from her second question and answered.
“Ah, a senior from the year above me. No, exactly… he was a senior.”
“A senior? Then isn’t that something to be happy about? Meeting an old friend after so long…”
“He was a senior at Gukhak, but his violent personality got him expelled. Until then, he was the strongest at the top of the rankings. And…”
Hyeondo swallowed the rest of his words, took a deep breath, and continued.
“Three years ago, the one who defeated me at the Welcome Night was him.”
“…”
“What? Is that true?”
“You were bigger than I expected.”
The people surrounding Arent reacted with surprise, clearly not having anticipated this.
They had only known Arent was strong, not his exact identity.
Maru was shocked too.
Of course she hadn’t faced Hyeondo herself, but she had watched Haru and Teraden fight him, so she had some indirect sense of how powerful he was.
Yet the one who had broken him was Arent. Perhaps their alliance was even more dangerous than Haru and Teraden’s.
“Ah, right. How are the classmates who followed you? The two who trailed behind you like shadows.”
Arent ignored everyone around him and clapped his hands as he asked Hyeondo.
“…”
“I guess you’re telling me to hit first and ask questions later. Fine. We’re all in a hurry, so it’s no big deal.”
“…”
Arent’s smile vanished at Hyeondo’s silence, and he immediately gestured toward Maru and Hyeondo.
“The lineup is three-on-three. Do exactly what I told you. I’ll take this guy, so only two of you come at me. The rest of you, take care of that girl.”
“No way.”
As Arent’s gesture began, the twenty or so people tried to spread out and surround them two.
But Hyeondo stepped forward alone and blocked it before they could even finish.
“Gaebang.”
Fwoosh.
Eventually, his famous Cheongnyeom rose around him.
“Even back then you couldn’t beat just me, and now you’re claiming you’ll stop the entire group alone?”
“It’s already been three years. And the same flimsy tricks won’t work anymore.”
“Yeah, the power of Ineung seems completely different from three years ago.”
“I’ll burn everything. Come at me.”
Srring, srurung.
While Hyeondo’s challenge drew a leisurely Arent, he pulled two identical sabers from his waist and gripped one in each hand.
“I’m sorry, but since I’ll be fighting you while watching them, if the chance arises, I’ll go ahead without hesitation.”
“Maru is fine! Don’t worry!”
Hyeondo heard her answer and immediately bent his lower body and leaned his upper body forward.
Kwaaang!!
Then he thrust with all his might, kicking the ground hard as his bent knees straightened.
Seeing Hyeondo’s charge, everyone except Arent and the two beside him quickly circled to the sides to target Maru.
But Hyeondo couldn’t just watch without interfering.
“Haaap-!!”
Ppooeeeng!!
Hyeondo spat flames from both sides, blocking the path of those trying to slip aside.
Even with his power somewhat restrained to protect Maru, the effect was still devastating.
“Kruueet…”
However, because he had held back, he couldn’t fully trap them all.
‘Seven… Maybe I missed some.’
Since that was the case, all he could do was hope Maru would hold on until he finished off the rest.
Gritting his teeth, Hyeondo kicked the ground again and charged forward with the speed of a whirlwind.
Swaaaahhhhaaaah.
Some people with water Ineung tried to suppress Hyeondo’s momentum using their own element, but it was no use against the Cheongnyeom.
The ones watching saw the Cheongnyeom burning even hotter and cried out in tension.
“Damn! Everyone block it!”
“Get out of the way!”
“Krhaak…”
Hyeondo took all the wild Ineung attacks head-on and mercilessly knocked the attackers to the ground.
Then he immediately shot toward Arent.
Fwooong!
Hyeondo reached Arent’s face and unleashed a fist packed with terrifying power.
Arent raised one saber blade diagonally to block the punch.
Chzeeeeng-!! Kagagang!!
“Hmm, it’s definitely a bit harder this time…”
Before Arent could finish speaking, Hyeondo swung the other arm.
Fwooong-!
Arent twisted his upper body back to dodge just in time, clicked his tongue, and stepped back.
“Really, he’s an unstoppable brute.”
Watching Hyeondo rampage like a beast, Arent signaled the two beside him.
“Start.”
Receiving the signal, the two grabbed a metal net they had prepared and leaped into the air.
While the others distracted Hyeondo’s attention, they spread the net in mid-air to trap him, but it was far too careless a counter against someone who had just seen the flames.
“Hup-!!”
The flame pillars exploding from Hyeondo burned the iron net to nothing without leaving a trace.
“I told you. Are you going to let yourself be caught again by some flimsy trick?”
“Oh. It really is different from last time.”
“…”
Arent didn’t know if he was really relaxing or just pretending, but Hyeondo didn’t answer. Instead, he kept attacking without pause.
The need to finish everyone off here and help Maru quickly made him act differently than usual.
Even so, Hyeondo was strong. He fought Arent while receiving checks from the others as well, maintaining balance to the point of near parity.
Of course, Arent’s back-and-forth fighting annoyed him, but he didn’t have the mental space to think about that right now.
Fwoooruuk!! Chzeeeeng-!!
After dozens of clashes, Hyeondo and Arent pulled back and stared at each other.
“Fwoo…”
Arent let out a deep breath and took his signature leisurely, arrogant pose, slinging one saber over his shoulder.
Hyeondo, after catching his breath, glanced back to check on Maru.
Of the seven heading toward Maru, three had fallen, and the other four were still pressing her down.
Every time Maru breathed in and out, her shoulders rose and fell irregularly, making it clear she was exhausted.
‘Kruh, I have to… keep that pact with them.’
Hyeondo bit his lip as his concentration began to waver from impatience.
“Kikik!”
‘It seems he’s really bothered by this side. Now is the perfect time.’
Arent noticed Hyeondo’s distraction and twisted one corner of his mouth, tilting his neck.
This action was one of several pre-arranged signals.
The signal to divide the forces, notice the other side’s balance breaking, and send reinforcements to destroy their equilibrium.
Soon, several of the people around him checked the signal and immediately charged toward Maru.
Hyeondo, sensing something was wrong, quickly turned back to alert Maru, but it was too late.
“No—! Pi—!!”
Ppuuuuk.
His shout was swallowed by the sound of something sharp piercing flesh.